“I’m proud that my campaigning has paid off, the Met has listened, and finally opened up its secret 150-year old crime museum to the public. These hidden historic crime artefacts are a vital part of London’s history and will likely prove enormously popular with residents and visitors to the City who already have a fascination with the more macabre chapters of London’s history. Now, the Met should turn this into a profitable attraction, and reinvest the cash into frontline policing. It’s absolutely realistic to attract as many as 300,000 visitors in the first three months. Just a fifth of that income could pay for 35k front line police hours. It’s a no-brainer.”

Roger Evans’ report: “History’s Life Sentence: Opening the Met’s 150 year old secret Crime Museum Collection to the public” can be accessed at: www.glaconservatives.co.uk/hls

The sums
¹ The Leonardo da Vinci exhibit at the National Gallery in London ran for 3 months in 2012 attracting 323,897 visitors. The recent Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts attracted 132,926 visitors whilst 140,546 people visited the Hajj exhibit at British Museum. Given the broad appeal of both the Crime Museum’s collection and the draw of viewing exhibits previously locked away from the public eye, it could realistically lead to visitor numbers around 300,000 over a three month exhibition.

² At £10 a ticket, the museum could look to bring in up to £3,000,000. Just a fifth of this turnover would pay for 35,629 additional front line police hours. A police hour, worth £16.84, is based on a Police Constable’s salary of £35,034.10 working a 40-hour week.